LOVEJOY — The Spalding High boys tennis team captured its first region championship in six years Thursday as it downed Sandy Creek 3-1 in the finals of the Region 4-AAA championship at the Gerald A. Matthews Complex.

Scoring points for the Jags in their historic win were Hez Apperson (6-1, 6-3) at No. 2 singles, Andrew Winter and Daniel Blake (6-0, 6-3) at No. 1 doubles and Barrett Lavender and Ben Eady (6-1, 6-2) at No. 2 doubles, while Colby Willis was up 6-1 and 3-1 at No. 3 singles when the match was pulled from the court.

“We did really well, because we bonded as a team and did great,” Apperson said of the Jags which were seeded No. 1 going into the tournament. “It was definitely a team effort.”

Second-seeded Sandy Creek had to win a second-round morning match, which wasn’t played the day before — like the rest of the second-round matches — because of rain delays, against sixth-seeded Henry County to advance to the finals. In the finals, Spalding, which had finished region runner-up the last two seasons and four times in the last five years, finally got a chance to clutch the boys region championship trophy for only the second time in the school’s 12-year history.

In the girls finals, Spalding High lost 3-2 to Eagle’s Landing to finish region runner-up for the third time in the last four years. Eagle’s Landing won the title for the second year in a row.

Scoring points for the Lady Jags were Bea Dallas (6-2, 6-4) at No. 2 singles and McKenzie Dallas (6-2, 6-2) at No. 3 singles.

Both Spalding High teams now host opening-round Class AAA state playoff matches on Tuesday, the Lady Jags taking on Grovetown at noon and the Jags taking on Thomson at 4 p.m.

Both Spalding High teams have had good track records at state the past couple of seasons. The Lady Jags have gone three or more rounds deep into the state playoffs five years in a row and six times in the last seven years. The Jags have gone two rounds deep into the state playoffs two years in a row and five times in the last six years.